Luis J. Botifoll, Cuban Banker

September 26, 2003|BY JEAN-PAUL RENAUD MIAMI BUREAU

Luis J. Botifoll was one of the first of his kind.

Mr. Botifoll, a banker credited with helping thousands of fellow Cuban exiles launch their careers, died Wednesday from heart failure after he returned home from a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister JosM-i MarM-ma Aznar. He was 95.

Mr. Botifoll was a founder of the Cuban American National Foundation in 1981. As chairman of Republic National Bank, he turned the institution into the largest Hispanic-owned business in the United States.

"He touched so many careers," said Joe Garcia, the foundation's executive director. "He was the originator of most Cuban wealth [in Miami]."

One of Mr. Botifoll's final acts was to speak to Aznar on the foundation's behalf.

Garcia said Mr. Botifoll will be remembered as one of the first Cubans exiles to succeed in the United Sates.

"He was the moral conscience of the exile community," Garcia said. "Anytime there was a crisis, he would come into the office and give advice. Enough can't be said about his personality."

Miami attorney Sofia Powell-Cosio, Mr. Botifoll's granddaughter, said that with his death Cuba has lost a piece of its history. Before Fidel Castro came to power, Mr. Botifoll ran the Cuban newspaper El Mundo.

"He was incredible," she said. "He was a walking encyclopedia. He would remember people's names and dates and facts. He had that ability to be able to look at something he loved but to talk about it with a critical eye. He was able to see all of Cuba's beauties and faults."

A viewing will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday at Caballero-Rivero-Woodlawn Funeral Home at 8200 Bird Road in Miami-Dade County. There will be a Mass at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Church of the Epiphany, 8235 SW 57th Ave. followed by a funeral at Woodlawn North Cemetery at 3260 SW Eighth St.